Saturday, January 14, 2012

Winter's finally here and the soup's coming

After what's been an unusually warm and snowless Winter the season finally arrived this week. We ended up with about 7 inches of snow covering everything. This is really the first significant snow cover of the Winter. That's very unusual for Southwest Michigan. Some surrounding areas that are more prone to the lake effect snows had 12 to 15 inches to dig out of yesterday after two days of Winter storm watches, then warnings, white out conditions and now the prisitine white calm and sunshine that typically follows a storm like that. .

It was 17 degrees this morning forecast to warm up to the mid 20's A good day to make some soup! I've been wanting to make some potato soup for several weeks and decided to give it a little different twist with some poblano peppers still from the garden and dried Mexican Chiles. Here's what I came up with and it's DELICIOUS !

Poblano Mexican Chile Potato Soup

Oil for browning onion

One medium onion chopped coarsely

2 cloves garlic

1/2 chopped poblano pepper – seeds removed

Reserve other half to slice thinly for soup garnish

1 dried Red New Mexico Chile – seeds removed

4 stalks organic celery

2 cups cubed or chopped washed but unpeeled potatoes. I generally use whatever kind I have on hand. You could also use Yukon Gold or Red Skinned

3 cups water or vegetable stock

1 tb McKay’s vegetarian seasoning if using water

Salt

Ground black pepper

In a Dutch Ovencook onion over medium heat till it starts to turn translucent. Add chopped garlic. Cook about another minute or two till garlic aroma comes up. Reduce heat, Add celery. Cook a few minutes more over low heat to soften celery a bit.

Meanwhile remove send then chop or tear dried Chile pepper into small pieces. Place in small dish and add about 1/3 cboiling water.. Allow to sit for a few minutes until pepper softens.

Add peppers, chopped potatoes, McKay’s seasoning and water to onions. Cover Dutch Oven. Bring to a boil . You may have to add a little more water to keep potatoes covered with about 1 inch. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly. Puree in a food processor or blender just until smooth, being careful not to over-process. Over-processing will result in a gummy or pasty soup. Return to the pot, stir in thesour cream and bring just to a boil. Add salt to taste if you wish.Use theremaining Poblanos for garnish. Sprinkle with grated Artisan Mexican Cheese Blend and serve hot.

Like most soups, stews, etc. it is even better the next day and the day after that if there’s any left! the flavors just really set in and intensify I've definitely become a fan of roasted poblano peppers.